Figurehead & Maritime Articles
Over the following pages you will find various articles that I’ve have written and published on the subject of Figureheads and Maritime Carving. If you would like hard copy of any of these articles please contact me.I’ve also reviewed a number of books on the subject of Ships Figureheads and Martime Carvings which you will find here, also further reading on this captivating subject can be found here. |
Naval Figureheads - Lost but not Forgotton
The original Figurehead of HMS WARRIOR, seen just inside the entrance to the Royal Dockyard at Portsmouth, Hampshire, in the early 1900’s the size of
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Very little is know as to the name of this massive female figurehead, for many years she stood in the Yard of Hughes Bolkow at Battleship Wharf in Blyth, and may well have been taken from a vessel broken up by this company, in time she was moved over to stand outside the main office until the company was closed in the 1970’s, sold she has now been moved to a private collection in the Far East.
A second view of the mystery lady at Hughes Bolkow of Blyth, this time she is seen with items of furniture made from the timbers obtained from broken up obsolete warships, also on her right stands a bow carving from one of the Victorian Royal Yachts.
he two Dockyard Police man make the figurehead look larger that it was, at just under 12 feet high it was still one of the largest in the Navy, it survived until the 1960’s until it was destroyed due to rot and neglect, a modern replica Figurehead is now on the bows of the restored WARRIOR down in Portsmouth Dockyard, carved the well know team of Jack Whitehead and Norman Gaches.
Figurehead of HMS MARS shown in the Sheffield Head Officer yard of TW WARD and company, just before the last War, this Figurehead was to find it’s way over to New York, and may well still survive in private hands.
The beautiful and magnificent Figurehead from HMS ROYAL ADELAIDE seen just inside the entrance of the Royal Naval Barracks at Chatham in Kent, she was not to survive and was lost some time during the second World War, a sad and tragic loss.
farmer had what he called a scarecrow for sale, and would they be interested in buying it, the dealer was Karl-Eric Svardskog his friend Gunter, the scarecrow would turn out to be a beautiful Ships Figurehead in the form of a young woman, a deal was made with the farmer, leaving Karl-Eric and Gunter to make the arrangements to move her out of the farmers barn, back to Karl-Eric home in Gothenburg, once this relatively short journey had been made, a more complex and arduous journey of research and discovery would occupy Karl-Eric for the next decade or more, a journey he is still on.
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